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Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Film Review: Now You See Me

About the film

Now You See
Me is a thriller film that was released at the cinema in the UK on 3rd
July 2013. The film has a run time of 115 minutes and it is rated 12A.

Plot

After
receiving a mysterious summons, four magicians arrive to a strange address in
New York and find a room full of secrets. A year later, they’re working
together as The Four Horsemen, stage illusionists about to perform to a sold
out venue in Las Vegas. The big part of their show is that they apparently
robbed a French bank for real, showering their audience with millions of Euros.
With a trick that big, and a crime committed, the show gets the attention of
the FBI and Interpol and Dylan Rhodes and Alma Vargas are assigned to the case.
With The Four Horsemen constantly one step ahead, Thaddeus Bradley, a magician
who reveals how big tricks are done, also becomes involved.

As the
investigation continues there is one illusion after another and it becomes
clear that the closer you look, the less you see!

What I thought

Now You See
Me was one of the films that I have been most looking forward to seeing this
year. As soon as I saw the trailer, I was desperate to see it. I haven’t seen a
film that looked anything like this and because of how different it looked, I wanted
to see it even more.

The film
begins by showing us the lives of what will be The Four Horsemen. Either a
street magician, an escapist or a mentalist, each of the four have special
skills which are needed for a secret reason. Within a couple of days of each
other, the four characters receive a card with an address on although no
further information. On the date specified, the four arrive at the mysterious
location and realise that they’re being hired for something bigger than any of
them could have ever imagined. Then, we skip to a year later and The Four
Horsemen are just about to perform in Las Vegas together, claiming that they
can rob a bank. The beginning of the film is very exciting and is filled with
fantastic magic tricks and illusions, although these are nothing compared to
what comes later in the film.

The first big
trick we see is that of The Four Horsemen apparently robbing a bank in France
during their show. Part of the plot of this film concerns the tricks being done
and the FBI and Interpol attempting to figure out how they’re done, especially
because robbing a bank is a crime. This brings in something more than just
magic into the film and makes it a race against time and a huge mystery to
solve. If the magic and illusions weren’t exciting enough, there is the FBI
trying to figure everything out as well. I absolutely loved the plot in Now You
See Me. The trailers made the film look different and exciting and that’s
exactly what it is. There are things happening all over the damn place over the
whole 115 minutes of the film.

One big
aspect of the film is trying to figure out how magic tricks and illusions are
done and I absolutely loved this. Not only are the FBI trying to figure out
what is going on, but so was I as an audience member. Throughout, it is said
that the closer you look, the less you see and that’s exactly true. You could
have been sat right up next to the screen and still not be able to see how
tricks were done. One of the biggest aspects of the magic for me was the
mentalism stuff, mainly because of how much I love Derren Brown and the things
he does. Thankfully though, some secrets are revealed throughout the film but
at the end, there are still plenty of unanswered questions which leaves it
perfectly open for a sequel which has been confirmed now.

Cast wise,
Now You See Me gets even better. Starring as The Four Horsemen are Jesse
Eisenberg as J. Daniell Atlas, Woody Harrelson as Merritt McKinney, Isla Fisher
as Henley Reeves and Dave Franco as Jack Wilder. I couldn’t have been more
impressed with this bunch. Eisenberg sheds his geeky image from The Social
Network and is now a sexy, cool and interesting magician. Isla Fisher brings
some sex appeal to the show with her skimpy “assistant” looking outfits while
Dave Franco’s character Jack has street smarts and Woody Harrelson plays a
mentalist. The four work extremely well together and as characters with varying
personalities. They bounce off of each other at times, have some great and
funny banter but most importantly, they work well together to get the job done.

As The Four
Horsemen are a young bunch, we have some older actors to even things out a bit.
Mark Ruffalo plays Dylan Rhodes, FBI agent assigned to the case. He’s ruthless
throughout the film and desperately wants to find out what is going on. He’s a
bit of an angry man and definitely does not believe in magic so is very dubious
about what The Four Horsemen are doing. Then we have Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus
Bradley, an ex-magician who reveals the secrets of tricks for a living. What I
loved about this character is that he’s so straight with everyone and tells
them that they’re looking too closely but will they listen? No, of course not.

So, overall,
Now You See Me was one of my favourite films this year. It is amazing to look
at in regards to the magic being done but it is also so exciting. Add in a
bloody awesome cast and you can’t really go wrong.